Membrane vesicles that are shed by cells are referred collectively as microvesicles. Microvesicles from various cell sources have been extensively studied with respect to protein and lipid content. Recently, microvesicles have been found to also contain both DNA and RNA, including genomic DNA, cDNA, mitochondrial DNA, microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA).
Due to the genetic and proteomic information contained in microvesicles shed by cells, current research is directed at utilizing microvesicles to gain further insight into the status of these cells, for example, disease state or predisposition for a disease. In addition, current research is also directed at utilizing cell-free DNA to gain further insight into the status of cells.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods of isolating cell-free DNA and for isolating microvesicles from biological samples and methods of extracting high quality nucleic acids for accurate diagnosis of medical conditions and diseases.